On the Ropes 2: Insidious Obsession by Michelle Cary Read Free Book Online Page B

silent. A lump formed in her throat, and she clung a little tighter to him as she struggled to find the words. “I begged him to stop, but he was so far drunk he could barely stand. I knew reasoning with him wasn’t going to happen. He slapped me across the face and told me to stop acting like a baby and take it like a woman. Then he stuck his hand down my pants.”
    “Damn sicko,” Cole muttered.
    Ignoring his statement, she continued. If she didn’t say the words right now, while the wound was open, she might never be able to tell him. “I reached for the closest thing I could get my hands on and hit him over the head with a lamp. Knocked him cold. Then I ran to my friend’s house to hide for the night.”
    “So having Sean pin you against the wall last night—”
    “Brought all those horrible memories flooding back. I tried to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was what happened with my father. Eventually, I gave up and instead formulated a plan.”
    “What did happen? I mean after you found safety at your friend’s house? Did you call the police? Did he go to jail?”
    She shook her head. “I went home the next day to confront him and found him in his bed with a gunshot wound to the head.”
    “Oh hell. Baby, I’m so sorry.”
    She blinked back a fresh set of tears and nodded. “Me too. He left a note to me, saying how sorry he was for what he’d almost done and how he simply couldn’t live with the guilt of knowing he’d nearly raped me or the temptation that might cause him to succeed the next time.” She choked back a sob. “He knew he couldn’t control his urges, so he killed himself because of me.”
    In a move so quick she didn’t see it coming, Cole turned her to him and took her face in his hands. “You’re not responsible for his death.”
    “Yes, I am, Cole. He said as much.”
    “He was a sick man who couldn’t figure his way past the grief of losing his wife. He was mentally ill and couldn’t control himself.”
    She knew the words he spoke were true, but she’d shouldered the blame for that horrible night for so long they simply wouldn’t sink in. She shook her head in denial, only to have him tighten his grip until she couldn’t move.
    “Amber. Look. At. Me.” She did, staring him directly in his deep green eyes. “You didn’t force him to pull the trigger, and you sure as hell didn’t ask to be almost raped. What happened was not your fault. You need to figure out a way to accept that fact and move on so you stop living in the past and start enjoying life.”

Chapter Nine
    Cole placed the pizza box and bag containing sodas paper plates and napkins on the small table near the balcony door. He glanced over to where Amber slept. After their conversation, he’d convinced her to try to rest some more. This time she appeared to finally be sleeping soundly.
    It had been a tough twenty-four hours for her, and he hadn’t made things any easier pushing her for answers, but deep down he knew she’d feel better now that she’d shared her plight. Her ability to confide in him not only strengthened their bond but helped ease her burden.
    He couldn’t imagine carrying around that amount of guilt and sorrow for so many years without telling anyone or going completely crazy. At one point, Jason had called her a mouse. She might be a mouse on the outside, but inside where it counted, she had to be one of the toughest people Cole had ever known.
    Not wanting to eat without her, he dropped onto the extra bed and picked up the television remote. It was time for Conflict , and he didn’t want to miss The Tribunal’s first ever mixed tag match.
    The television flickered to life, and a few minutes later Amber stirred. She opened her eyes and pushed up to a sitting position.
    “Hey.” He smiled. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
    “Don’t be,” she replied as she swung her feet over the side of the bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I wanted to see the show tonight